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SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES. 






y . i SPEECH 




HON. A? wYyENABLE, OF N. VA Rl ) L f \ \ . 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JUNE I, 1848, 

In Committee of the Whole, upon the power of Congress to legislati 

Slavery in the Territorit t, 

$/ 



Mr. VENABLE said s 

Mr. Chairman : The extent to which Congress 
may exercise legislative authority over the Ter- 
ritories of the United States, lias become a subject 
of most absorbing interest. It is felt to be so in 
every portion of our county — has been the source 
of deep feeling and agitating debate, and will con- 
tinue to excite and disturb the repose of the coun- 
try until definite action shall fix a conclusion for 
the popular mind. I am not one of those who 
believe that evil must grow out of full and fair dis- 
cussion amongst statesmen, on great constitutional 
Questions involving our rights; nor shall I be 
eterred from a thorough investigation, by a 
clamor about abstractions, often raised to prevent 
the analysis of the principles which are contained 
in an important line of policy. Every fundamental 
truth is an abstraction, and he only is a great 
statesman who can first analyze a question, and 
then, by his mental balance, weigh the result of the 
operation, and ascertain the proper force and value 
of the elements which compose it. Facts often 
mislead us, because we assign wrong causes for 
their existence; and when this is done, the most 
plausible array of facts, the most ingenious deduc- 
tions therefrom, are delusive, for the same reason. 
Truth reduced to its elementary principles, affords 
the only safe guide to investigation, and the only 
satisfactory conclusions are those which are formed 
from such a development. 

This subject, Mr. Chairman, has become one of 
great practical importance, and I avail myself of 
this occasion to present my views to the commit- 
tee and the country — to assert the rights of my 
constituents and the State which I in part repre- 
sent, to the common property of all the people of 
all the States. A convention recently held at 
Raleigh , speaking the sentiments of the Democracy 
of North Carolina, most distinctly asserted their 
opposition to the doctrines recently made promi- 
nent, by their tendency to restrict the occupation 
of the territorial possessions of the United States 
to those citizens who reside in States where sla- 
very does not exist. The clear and temperate but 
decided manner in which their determination to 
resist such opinions is expressed, admonish me of 
the propriety of urging their wishes upon this 
House; whilst I assure you that their conclu- 
sions are not referable to impetuosity in action, 
nor have they been rash in their adoption. Their 
history is that of a quiet, reflecting people, never 

Printed at die Congressional Globe Office^ 



in vol v< 'I in tl i high party irapuli i 

tient of wrong*, when ih< 

in the fundanx ntal 

to tl i i '.mm and the < lonstitutii 

u here prudi nee or 1 i 

them, but never v. tiling toabai a sir prin- 

. their right . 

iota should, I 
lighteni d si it) in tni hip, and the high f 

justice which should chs 
citizens who were called 
raon country, would accord to then wl 
due, and remedy or n 
plaint. 

In asking the indulgence of the committee whilst 
1 i odeavor to argue this qt 
that I may be believed when 1 di i tare thai my par- 
pose is no) to agitate but to compose — to ; 
on the waters which have been troubled — to pre- 
sent no useless and distracting i 
our friends in the North and '\Y. st in a false posi- 
tion before their constituent!. V\ > sacri- 
fices of the kind; we only ask for the guarantee* 
of the Constitution; and we feel assured that wc 
shall not ask in vain. I trust, sir, that I shall be 
able to present such a view of this question, that 
all of us may at least acquiesce in taking a i 
which secures the honor of all, and does equal 
justice to all; that a good understanding 
established, and peace and good-will be restored 
to our deliberations. The heirs of a common in- 
heritance, won by the sacrifices and the I 
our ancestors, or accumulated by the progress of 
our own greatness, should never di 
their high station to wrangle about the partition, 
or permit folly to estrange those who ought to be 
bound together by the most sacred bonds. 

With this view, sir, I declare that we arc con- 
tent to abide the Missouri compromise; not that 
we believe that Congress had any right to annex 
any such conditidii, or to enact any such last ; but 
the compromise having been made and arquicsccd 
in for near thirty years, there is no purpo 
tained by any southern statesman to disturb it 
now. If this compromise would adjust this diilcr- 
ence, if it would compose this trouble, we are 
content to abide it, and the renewal of its op* i 

recognized by the laws admitl I nto the 

Union, and adjusting its territorial limits. I 
this, and entering our protest as to lhe| 
Congress to make the compromise, we sn. 



M5 



fellow-citizens of the nonslaveholding States, We 
have made lanre concessions; we have given up a 
large territory, to which our slaveholders cannot 
remove; we have consented to make it exclusively 
yours; whilst wc have placed no restriction to 
prevent you from the occupation of the territories 
to which we arc permitted to come. This conces- 
sion abridges our rights, without the promise of a 
consideration; it enlarges yours, witEout any equiv- 
alent bem- paid by you;yet, for peace, harmony, 
and good-will, we have acquiesced, and will con- 
tinue to acquiesce: and are now willing that the 
same parallel of latitude may be recognized until 
the Pacific shore, if that is the last conces- 
sion which shall be demanded. And here let me 
ask gentlemen, When, in the history of our national 
. did any southern statesman invade the 
institutions of the North? When were demands 
made for peculiar or exclusive privileges, from 
which any other citizens of our common country 
•were excluded? If this be true, we ask that the 
f doctrine of the Wilmot proviso be with- 
drawn from the Oregon bill; that this obstruction 
be removed from the progress of that measure. 
The whole country is above the parallel of 36° 30', 
and is within the spirit and meaning of the Mis- 
souri compromise. Why do they seek to annex 
this feature to the bill? Is it to obtain another 
precedent — to shake the chains in our faces, and 
teach the South the humiliating truth that they are 
powerless whenever a bare majority of votes can be 
obtained here? Can any good result from this 
policy, either in the advance of national prosperity 
or the cultivation of kind and patriotic feelings in 
nnr great family? Permit me, sir, to say, with 
all respect, that in such a work as this, demagogues 
find their proper occupation, agitators their appro- 
priate employment. The petty politician, whose 
horizon is circumscribed by the events of a single 
campaign, whose little heart is filled to overflowing 
with but small success, may labor in such a cause 
with ardor and with zeal; but the elevated states- 
man, the high-souled patriot, whose enterprise is 
his country's glory, whose vision, extending to fu- 
ture ages, "looks through the vista, and realizes all 
of happiness, prosperity, and renown, which union, 
and love, and concert among his countrymen shall 
secure, will frown upon the first effort to mar the 
harmony and destroy the confidence of his coun- 
trymen in each other. His reward will be rich: 
it will be the gratitude of posterity. I trust, sir, 
that the Oregon bill will be passed; that it will not 
be delayed by this unnecessary proviso; that the 
cry of distress, which reaches us from the miseries 
of ravage warfare, may be forever hushed, by 
sending promptly a territorial government and a 
military force to their immediate relief. 

I have said thus much, sir, in passing, in rela- 
tion t'> the M issouri compromise and its legitimate 
results, as tendering one platforrrton which we all 
can stand, both North and South: the South, in- 
deed, shorn of some of her privileges, but willing 
to concede them for tranquillity and repose; yield- 
ing, but with a ■proteslando; acquiescing in, but not 
means, or acknowledging the right 
Put, sir, the consummation of a peace. 
with M which, I suppose, may now be con- 

| presents this question in an 
uteri ling and practical position before us, involv- 
ing : rtant results, and leading directly to 



the development of the policy to be adopted in- 
flation to the Territories of the United States. 
We are called upon to meet the question directly, 
and to decide whether the Wilmot proviso shall be 
brought to bear upon the territorial acquisitions 
of the Mexican war, or in what other manner this 
vexed question is to be settled. 

And here, sir, permit me to say, that I adopt the 
doctrine of non-intervention on the part of Con- 
gress in its fullest extent. As I deny the right of 
Congress to legislate slavery into existence in any 
Territory of the United States, so I also deny the 
right to forbid it. I adopt the language of the reso- 
lution of the late Baltimore Convention, as meeting 
my approbation: "That all efforts of the abolition- 
' ists, or others, to induce Congress to interfere with 
' questions of slavery, or to take incipient steps thereto, 
' are calculated to lead to the most alarming and dan- 
' gerous consequences, and that all such efforts have an 
' inevitable tendency to diminish the happiness of the 
' people, and to endanger the stability and permanence 
' of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by 
' any friend of our political institutions:" Language 
which most strikingly illustrates the folly, as well 
as the deplorable consequences, of assuming the 
right of Congress to interfere with this relation,— -a 
declaration which, if adopted and sustained in 
good faith, in all its intent and meaning, must for- 
ever remove from all our deliberation and inter- 
course this exasperating difficulty. If the right of 
Congress to legislate in the premises be granted, 
then the whole question is settled. There is no 
limit but their discretion, no safety but the clem- 
ency of a majority. But, sir, the framers of that 
instrument were wise men, whose profound sagaci- 
ty and immaculate virtue, combined with a patriot- 
ism unsurpassed in all human history, qualified 
them to guard the infancy of the nation which sprung 
into existence by their prowess, as well as to pro- 
vide for the development of that greatness which 
they distinctly foresaw. No aspect of the future 
escaped their observation, no contingency which 
might arise wa3 omitted in their provisions; and 
it is to this Constitution that we refer to adjust 
this question and fix the principles on which, I 
trust, we may all agree. 

The extent of legislative power over the terri- 
tories of the United States, which may be consti- 
tutionally exercised by Congress, is to be found 
in the third section of the fourth article of the Con- 
stitution, which provides that " Congress shall 
' have power to dispose of and make all needful 
• rules and regulations respecting the territory and 
« other property of the United States; and noth- 
' ing in this Constitution shall be so construed as 
' to°prejudice the claims of the United States or 
' of any particular State. " The clear and unques- 
tionable meaning of which must be, that territory 
is regarded as property, and the rules and regula- 
tions referred to are such as shall be necessary to 
make the territories and other property available. 
Any rule not needful for this purpose is contrary 
to the intent and meaning of the provision. No 
person can suppose that the words " dispose of" 
can have any meaning by which Congress shall 
have power to waste, to cede away, or otherwise 
render the territories of the United States unavail- 
able for the great purpose of supplying the national 
treasury and ministering to the wants of the peo- 
ple of the United States. Any other construction 



8 



•N*of tliost' words illicit tiansi". r iii,- treaty n 

v power to Congress, and rife nutboi 

iy the public domain. It is true, the! Lhepowei 
to acquire territory implies the powei 
it when acquired; hut it is also true, J. 
government must be in accordance with thi C 
stitution. I!iii<' >es not acquire territory . 

I'lir people of the United States acquir it, and hav< 
the right to govern it, ami have limiti ■ . I 
as their trustee, in the name of Government, 
Constitution. Congress could have no pOM 
establish religion or to create titles <>C nobility in 
the territories, because expressly denied by tin- 
Constitution; and when the laws of th>- United 
States are extended over a territory, il m 
understood that the Constitution and I 
extended, and that nothing repugnant to thi 
stitution can be in force as a law. 1 know thai it 
is asserted, and that by southern statesmen, that 

Congress has unlimited power of legislat <>\> r 

the territories; but it" this lie true, then Coi 
may, by law, commit the, entire govt rnmenl of the 
persons and property in the territories to the will 
of a single individual, and thus present the anuii- 
aly of a despotism created and sustained by the 
Constitution itself, — a conclusion so monstrous as 
only to require the annunciation to carry home thi 
conviction of its fallacy to every mind. (See note 
A, Appendix.) There can be no doubt of this 

E reposition, that whatever was property when the 
'ederal Government came into existence, under 
our Constitution, so far as that Government is con- 
cerned, must ever remain property. The States, 
as sovereigns, alone can alter the rights of things 
within their own jurisdiction, and that by virtue 
of their sovereignty. The Federal Government is 
therefore bound to consider as property all that 
was so considered at its adoption, and the Consti- 
tution guaranties the enjoyment of that property 
in tranquillity and security to all the holders, so fat- 
as the laws of the United States are operative in 
the premises. And this is true whenever that pro- 
perty is placed under the jurisdiction of the laws 
of the United States. Now, the territories are the 
public domain, the common property of all the citi- 
zens of all the States — acquired by the expenditure 
of the common purse, or purchased by the valor of 
our people, without reference to geographical dis- 
tinctions, or domestic municipal regulations. It 
follows, then, that in the territories of the United 
States, even before an organized government is in- 
stituted, the Constitution and laws recognize the 
right of property; for none can for a moment as- 
sume that the territories of the United States arc 
without law-, or that it is necessary that a tempor- 
ary government should exist to bring them undt r 
the operation of law. (See note B.) The Govern- 
ment is bound to protect them from invasion and 
injury, because they are the property of the United 
States. Then the question arises — what is the 
effect of the organization of a territorial govern- 
ment upon the rights of property amongst the in- 
habitants of the territory so placed under organic 
law? If the previous reasoning be cornet, 
such organization all the citizens of the I 
States had an equal right to go into the terril 
and carry with them those subjects n 
property by the Constitution. If tl 
either weakened or destroyed, it must I,,- from the 
effect of territorial organization. In order to give 



(llAt rib' *, lh.it • 

the atti 

ana • . 

Willi 

the 

thus dl 
' 

I . 
had a right t" ro w»th their pi 
li ■ domain i 

regard< d I . 

that .; 

|i<> v, ers which it 

dtution. It" I 
povt er, then no . 
habUamotn terril 

to cither party. 

It has I • 

territorial l< 

i 

■ 

the faith of thi 

cisi d othi r a ' 

I ' 
proved but that the territoi 
Congn - 
wei-i- not authorize i to do. 1 

poration is one of ih 

for it is creating 

with the rights of ,-i I 

of w hich this | 

• 

habitants, the pow< 

and th.it by the ap| 

territorial legislature, ' 

tion, charters hank, w in. h i; ••■■ i 

by its own action. 1 1 : 

tory upon r. faith an I 

gallon uppn tin- : - ■'• has 

their power in '. 
argument d< rived fro 
tie- in ixin . 

I am a« U ■ thi 
pOW( r of 

win h tim< . I 

I 

a p 

•ii its profit 

lUCh of th- 
iol us to rentier 

• 

• f land and trans 



Ill these organic laws, Congress has repudiated 
the idea of sovereignty in the Territories, by re- 
serving the right o( reviewing, and repealing if 
: jthelawa enacted by the territorial legis- 

When the inhabitants of a Territory ac- 
cept the organic law with all its conditions, the 

.inn is then organized, and continues until 

it expires, tx vi termini, in the sovereignty of the 

formed oat of said Territory. Now, 

ition of this territorial organization and the 
us temporary government gave nojws 
ini cither to this local legislature, the peo- 
■" the Territory, or to Congress. The laws of 
the I 3tates, for the protection of persons and ' 

rty, were extended over them; but it was a 
rnmenl consistent with and according to the 
1 -'hution — a government limited by the Con- 
stitution, and possessing no authority beyond its 
grants. So that the right to govern is not in this case 
ji right of absolute sovereignty, but of sovereignty 
qualified by the provisions of fundamental law. 
Th. • t he Supreme Court, declaring that 

the right to acquire territory implies the right to 
govern it when acquired, is predicated upon the 
tmption that the government to be administered 
must be according to the Constitution of the Uni- 
ted States. They sustain rather than conflicts with 
the conclusion to which 1 have arrived. The ques- 
tion then arises, at what time does the right accrue, 
and to whom, to decide upon and fix the domestic 
institutions and the municipal law of the territories? 
And who is invested with that authority ? It will be 
seen, by reference to the same section of the Con- 
stitution referred to, as controlling the power over 
territories, that "Congress may admit new States 
into this Union." A reference to the Madison 
Papers will enlighten us as to this provision. A 
proposition was made to authorize Congress to 
form new States out of the [territories belonging 
to the United States, which was rejected, and the 
provision above quoted was adopted. Nothing 
could have been wiser and more consistent with 
the principles of the framers of the Constitution. 
The United States are sovereign States, and the 
Constitution is a 'compact of sovereign States; 
and inasmuch as Congress could not confer sov- 
ereignty upon a Territory, it was left to the peo- 
ple of the Territory to assert their own sovereignty, 
and then, as sovereign, come into the Federal 
Union. They wisely concluded that an act of 
Con. ! Territory a sovereign State 

would in fact invest it with no attribute of sov- 
Oty; but that the people of the Territory, at 
a proper time, being theonlysource of sovereignty, 
could make the declaration for themselves. Ac- 
cordingly, whenever a State has been admitted 
into the Union, it has beet] after their constitution 

has ; I and their sovereignty announced; 

and then, as one of our gloriou.s sisterhood, she 

This power was 
withheld f~r . . • ■ i C and left with the peo- 

ple. Nor is the Constitution silenl a-; t-> the 
when this event shall t ike place. The indi- 
the Coi ■ i o clearly marked, 

. Ii ave no roOm for conjec- 
| ofthe first article it is 

. idi d thai there shall be an apportionment of 
representation to population, ami that t ich State 

shall have at l . ■ I .. is dis- 

. '! ■ . .id the 



great Northwestern Territory was soon to be filled 
with inhabitants — soon to demand admission into 
the Confederation; and with the forecast which 
marked all their acts, it was fixed when such a 
demand might be made, and when it would be the 
duty of Congress to meet it and to comply. The 
Constitution was made with reference to the exten- 
sion of our institutions, and the increase in the 
number of the States. When, therefore, the mi- 
nority of the territory shall have ceased — when 
the residents, who have made their homes upon 
the public domain, now transferred by sale to the 
occupants thereof, shall have amounted to a suffi- 
cient number to give them a right to claim a repre- 
sentation on this floor — then they have reached a 
position in their existence on which to assert their 
sovereignty , by adopting fundamental law for them- 
selves, fixing their own domestic policy, admitting 
or excluding slavery, and doing any other thing 
which is not inconsistent with republican govern- 
ment. When this constitution is adopted, they 
have a right to ask, and Congress is bound to ad- 
mit, the sovereign State into the Confederacy. It 
cannot be gravely asserted that the sovereignty 
accrues to the State by the acknowledgment or 
expression of consent on the part of Congress. 
As well might the independence of a Government 
be ascertained by its recognition by other Govern- 
ments. Independence must exist before it is recog- 
nized, and sovereignty must spring from its proper 
source, the action of the people, and its acknowl- 
edgment by Congress admits its previous exist- 
ence. (See note C.) 

When the people of a Territory grow into num- 
bers sufficient to constitute a State under the Con- 
stitution, and shall abolish or establish slavery in 
their constitution, no one has a right to question 
their authority so to do. I do not invoke the au- 
thority of Congress to protect slaves as property 
in the Territories. I ask for no legislation upon 
the subject. They are already recognized as prop- 
erty by the Constitution and laws, and the courts 
afford ample protection to the rights of property. 
Legal rights must of necessity be decided by the 
courts. A mere territorial government, owing its 
existence to an act of Congress, subjecting its laws 
to the veto of Congress, and leaning for the expenses 
of its administration upon Congress, can surely lay 
no claim to the attributes of sovereignty. The 
Constitution and laws which bind Congress bind 
them, and they can neither create nor destroy insti- 
tutions recognized and guarantied by that Consti- 
tution. If I am asked why any particular point 
of time should be denoted as that in which a Ter- 
ritory may acquire and assert the sovereignty of a 
State, I reply, that the reason is the same as that 
which confers the right of self-direction and self- 
control upon an individual who has reached the 
of twenty-one years. A time must be desig- 
ited, and that decision must be the result of pru- 
dence and sound reason. The object of our system 
is to extend republican institutions - , and when a 
territory shall have passed theyears of its minority, 
and acquired a population sufficiently numerous to 
entitle it to a representative on this floor, it has all 
the elements of sovereignty, and can perfect it by 
the proper combination and concentration of those 
elements. 

But this question is presented in a most practi- 
cal and important aspect when we consider the 



remits of the Mexican war. .V h Mexico an ' I into a 8tate government and 

California are integral portion! of our territory ri idy to perl I i 

by the treaty of peace, which we hare reason tituti 

n has been ratified between the cow tin d, it i thi 

They will require a territorial a i at our people of .<!l the B 

hands, and we are already told by a gentleman •■■ 

from New York, [Mr. Murphy,] that inasmuch ritory on equal term n of any 



as the laws of those provinci sin i ly fi 

very, it cannot exist within their limits without 
legislative enactments. To sustain this | 

he has refi rred to the opinion of I lord \l 



of our conf( 
< ;■ ntlemen >mi times ippeai ■ 

tliis subj 

f the soutl S I think ih ' 



in the case of Campbell against Hall, (1 Cowper's thiasurpri when they are ad vis» I 

Reports,) where Lord Mansfield lays down the In all the phases of thii 

doctrine that the laws of a conquered country con- ' shape of I 

Unue in force until they are altered by the con- cannot eain. Ifthi M 

queror; a doctrine which, if taken in its full ex- i<> th( 

tent, seems subversive of all the received principles the elaveholding - ■ 

of the law of conquest, and which, however appli- nothing in return. If the Wilirrm r 

cal>le to the English Government, is totally repug- adopted, all is lost to tl , and a!: t : • 

nant to our institutions and our fundamental law. ritorii 

There can be no civil dominion over any territory the citizens of ftfl if the 

of [the United States, which is not founded upon Other fifteen. Should:' 

the Constitution*. From this source it must eras- as a territorial government is formed, the 

nate, and as soon as either by treaty or by the pie of the territory 

sword a territory is incorporated within the limits lively, the *.\--i\f result will n 

of the United States, the Constitution immediately inasmuch as emigration is much 

attaches to it and is operative upon it, and what- free States than from the othei I 

ever is repugnant to, or subversive of, its provi- should the doctrine that the 

sions must fall before its power. This must be M< rcico ceded to us by the treaty are in lores until 

manifest; for, if otherwise, we might have an estali- repealed I". 

lished religion in those provinces. tory is fon 

press provisions of the Constitution, and the seen- which reco res as propeity. I am sure 
rity of persons and of property might he utterly that no person can suppose that the southern 
lost against all the gurantces provided for their pie or then Repr 
protection. The conquered nation would give law their rights as to admit the proprii 
to thcirconqucrors, and the result of victory would cessions. I could never, sir, return to my eon- 
be the subjection of the victors. It is true, that stitnenta after approving of .uh- 
the laws of nations do recognize the force of all out a deep conviction that I deserved theii 
laws, even in conquered countries, which are no- and an assurance that I should re< • ive thi if • 
cessary for peace and tranquillity, until repealed cration. Neither can I be induct 
or altered by the conquerors. But it is only of any number of OUT fellow- :iti» 
such laws as are not in conflict with the laws of any portion of the Union, desire such s M 
the conquering Power. Whenever the laws in Cali- things. A demand so unn 
fornia and New Mexico conflict with, and are re- eraUon of which would be I • 
pugnant to, the Constitution of the United States, never I"- m 

that Constitution at once overrides such laws, and others, or prop' • the great objects of 

by the very act of cession or of conquest, becomes the union of I 

the supreme law of the land. (See note D.) The whole of the difficulty in this 
It would be a monstrous conclusion at which to tion seems to me to be the result of s 
arrive, that after all the costs and sacrifices of war, has arisen t 
the population of the conquered territory n. In thi 
the power to dictate the terms on which their con- 
querors shall occupy their country. It would be regarded, and a philanlhrO| 
equally repugnant to the principles of right and foot I 
justice so to adjust the mailer, thai a 

of the citizens of the United Slates, even the very sir, il Iter of law, 

men whose lives were periled in the war, should Dial rodom G 

be excluded from occupying the land that they had iddulge in the recreation of phi 

won with their swords'. We deny the right of malion, either for their own or •>'• 
Congress to legislate upon the subject, either to I others. But, 
extend or to forbid slavery; we ask* t" r i 

latim at the hands of Congress in the premi luch prctenre. I arm. 

neither are we willing that the M pula- for h 



tion, confessedly inferior in all the elements of it ; 

civilization and capacity f. lid institution wl 5 ™Y 

erect a barrier to the emigration of the citizens of birth, i 

fifti i a States of this Republic. No, sir; we invoke institution thi 

neither the aid of Congress to ' 

existence there, nor will wi 

the present population to control it, unless in .1 once dev I 



6 



the choice of a residence. 1 Lave never lived, and 
to livei in any portion of the United 
States where this institution does not exist™ 

Such, sir, are my opinions. It may be that they 
ere not the opinions of others. I arraign no man 
for his taste or his conscientious convictions; but 
I have said thus much because 1 think all rant 

tarnation on the general subject of slavery 
out of place, in this discussion. Slaves were re- 
garded as property at the formation of this Gov- 
ernment, and have been so regarded by Congress 
whenevei it was necessary to raise money by a 
direct tax. Even Mr. Justice McLean, whose au- 
thority lias !m en invoked to prove that they are not 
property, belonged to the Congress which passed 
the direct-tax law, immediately at or about the 
close of the late war with Great Britain. 1 pre- 
sume he voteiMfor that law, as there is no evidence 
to the contrary. Slaves are therein declared to be 
property, ordered to be treated as such, taxed as 
such, and the tax declared to be a lien on the slave 
until paid. The marshal was authorized to sell 
and convey the slave under a sale for taxes. Slaves 
are now and ever have been sold by the marshal 
under executions at the instance of the United 
States, and no one has questioned the title thus 
acquired by the purchaser. Whence, then, can 
ti' power arise, by which Congress may forbid 
the settlement of any of the citizens of the United 
States on our common inheritance with that which 
is recognized as property? 

With what show of justice can discriminations 
be made in favor of one species of property and 
against another? or how can a right which looks 
for its origin to the exercise of State sovereignty, 
unimpaired by surrender to the General Govern- 
ment, be brought under the control of Congress? 
Sir, it is a most serious, a most responsible under- 
taking, to determine that any portion of our fel- 
low-citizens are to be excluded from the inherit- 
ance of their fathers You ask much, indeed, from 
as, when you require us to consent to see our chil- 
dren disinherited — to register our approbation of 
the decree which illegitimates them as American 
citizens. Much more is asked than will ever be 
granted. If this reproach is to be upon us, it must 
never be by our own consent. The broad lands 
won by our fathers of right belong to us all. The 
blood which flowed upon the plains of every battle- 
field from Saratoga to Camden, came from the 
wounds of patriots who, from the North and South, 
buckled on their armor to do battle for liberty — 
wliM.se bold and manly hearts were never under the 
influence of unpatriotic feelings — who sought no 

local or Bi cl il advantages, but regarded all this 

broad land as a common treasure to enrich them- 
selves and their posterity. Happily for them, the 
delusion (if one) lasted long enough to save their 
from a blush atourdegeneracy. I lap- 
py was Ins lot, who slept on the field of his glory; 
thrice happy those who saw in the distance their 
country's prosperity, and left the world before dis- 
I distrust threatened to bring distress 

they looked for happiness, and dishonor 

they looked forglory. Let it not be reserved 

for us, now that the family of Siatts has increased 

from thirteen to thirty — when Heaven has rained 

ity upon us in golden showers — when the 

a v. orld struggling for their rights are turned 
to us witli agonizing anxiety — when the consum- 



mation of our glory and our power as a people can 
scarcely be conceived by the most vivid imagina- 
tion — when the obedient lightning coursing along 
on the wires of communication will ere long place 
our kindred on the Pacific and Atlantic shores 
again in the family circle, and carry in a moment 
the tale of joy or of sorrow over rivers, and forests 
and prairies, and plains — when distance shall no 
longer forbid association, and light and knowledge 
shall make their aggressive advances on darkness 
and barbarism — when the resources of our terri- 
tories, developed under the creative energies of our 
wonderful people, shall, year after year, greet us 
with the organization of a new State, the introduc- 
tion of a new sister into the family, bright with all 
the paraphernalia of virgin sovereignty. Let it not, 
sir, be reserved for us, in an unworthy struggle 
for political ascendency, or a more unworthy 
grasping for exclusive privileges, founded on sec- 
tional claims, to create and^awaken the elements of 
a storm, which shall sweep over our bright and 
happy country, like the angel of destruction, leaving 
nothing but the wreck of liberty and the ruin of 
social institutions; which shall show to the world 
the tomb of liberty, the fragments of its temples; 
where the friends of our race shall weep, and the 
enemies of human advancement shall rejoice. No, 
sir; let a more enlightened policy prevail, a more 
generous impulse give direction to our measures; 
let the heaven-bom spirit influence us which in- 
fluenced the patriarchs, who, ascending to the 
mountain top, agreed to divide their wealth and 
divide their territories, the elder giving the younger 
the choice, for " it was not meet for them to differ, 
for they were brethren." Let the lines of the Mis- 
souri compromise extend to the Pacific. Take that 
invaluable territory, including the richest and the 
best which the sun shines upon; but leave us our 
rights, shorn indeed of much of their extent; and 
although you hold in your hands the sword of the 
law to exclude us, we will place no obstruction to 
emigration from your portion of this great Repub- 
lic. 

Mr. Chairman, I present to the committee the 
resolution of the Baltimore Convention which de- 
nounces, in the strongest terms, the interference of 
Congress with the institution of slavery, or even 
the taking of incipient steps thereto. I offer to 
our northern and western brethren the Missouri 
compromise, onerous and exacting as it is upon 
the South, extending its provisions to the Pacific, 
including the fine soil, the magnificent harbors, 
and all the local advantages which nature has ap- 
propriated to these geographical limits. I admit 
the right of the inhabitants of the Territories to 
make their own municipal institutions, whenever 
they shall reach that amount of population which 
shall entitle them to a representation on this floor. 
I shall welcome them, whether forbidding or recog- 
nizing slavery, into the Union. I am contented 
to leave the question' in the Territories up to that 
time, to the learning and the purity of our courts. 
But I protest against the right of a few habitans 
of a Territory to exclude the citizens of fifteen 
States of this Union fi;om the occupancy of the 
common public domain. I protest against the 
authority of a law which they may enact which 
shall override the Constitution, and leave us but 
the empty name of protection by appeal. I am 
willing to leave the question whether the laws of 



( rracin 









conquered New Mexico and California shall «-« • 1 1 - 

trol us, lo the courts. I invoke no ■■ on 

the pari of I longn , to protecl i nd, or i" only, 

limit slavery. Batisfied with the guarantees alr< ' 

existing, coeval with tin- Constitution i 

tensive in their operation! in the name of th 

I ask you to keep your hands off of this subject — 

leave it wfoere the Constitution has placed it, and concession « 

we ask no move. We are satisfied, that whilst ii ■ 

the Constitution overrides any law enacted by Co C 

geees which conflicts with its provisions, it will South ■ 

certainly override any law existing in a eonqui 

territory equally repugnant to its n quiremi 

lu the spirit of compromise, m the temper of ment. But the I 

patriots, let us avoid exasperating and unneoe iry lovely I 

contests, and teach those who succeed us that all commonwealths, ! 

tliis magnificent country is their own. Prom tin 

reefs of Florida to the snores of our mighty lakes — ishing, and, unlike 

from the beach lashed by the Atlantic wave lo the n 

broad and tranquil Pacific — from tin' cold regions of the influence of her noonday • 

of the north to tlic soft climate of our southern lion's share Of the I 

boundary, the citizen of this Republic has Ins awardi 

home wherever lie may choose to select it, seenn 

in the enjoyment of his rights, guarantied by a n 

Constitution which is venerated and revered by our rights? And do Southern 

millions of freemen. We, sir, are admonished fii 

that our personal interest, though great, is much their hands? Are we to look, 

smaller than that of thossttse Email k ive behind to 

us. Let us who have enjoyed the mheriuu [Mr. Nim ! 

which our fathers only saw in the distani 

much as that we have ascended higher, have a mon only. I -usy say, 

extended horizon, — let us tell our children, that, Enough ; but lh< l*e satu- 

with counsels calm, wise, patriotic, measures just, fied. Gainin 

and aims true and honest, there is a yet brighter it will never 

and more glorious future for them. 1 speak for modi 

my own Carolina — who first gave utterance to a S 



declaration of independence — whose hardy sons 
have found wealth, honor, and distinction in all 

the South and West — whose colonists, pem 
the wilderness, tamed it, and called into life and 
sovereignty her noble daughter, Tennessee, — for 
her and her sons I speak, when I declare thai slit- 
recognizes no authority on the part of Congress or 
the inhabitants of the Territories to expel them 
from their common inheritance, the public d 






blood of 

by side have they falli n, in the f. ■ 

battle, with ' in the 

Union. \ nd bel 

the clod which coi ■ 

and children are told, 1 
you; th< 

his relatives and frii 
Btitutions of their States ditlVr Cr<>: 



She asks no favors but such as all may claim; she contrpl a majority of 1 



seeks no ad vantages but such as intelligence, em 
and industry will secure. In this noble competition 
she will contend with her sister States; in the glo- 
ries of such a victory all will equally partake. 

Hut, sir, we meet with embarrassments on this 
subject which arc exceedingly annoying. "We find 

Southern statesmen, surrendering this great isti- 

tutional question, in the admission of the right of 
Congress to legislate authoritatively and without 
limit upon the admission of slavery into the Ter- 
ritories. We find among ourselves those who 
give up the last hopes of the South, and surrender 

the citadel to the besiegers. Precedent is invoked domain, yield them al 
to establish the right to disinherit us. The evil liberty. Let their tears of sorrow 
not only of being disinherited, but the penalty of is of fiunii from them. 

crime, the forfeiture of felony, is fixed upon a . L rich, and I 

and we are required, as suppliants, to ask that as cast not out the childn n not the 

mercy which we should claim as a right A dis- descendai 
tinguished Senator of my own State, (Mr. Babosr,] em statesm 
a gentleman of high attainments and extended rep- 
utation, in a recent speech on the Oregon bill, ad- n the timi 
mitted the right of Congress to 

exclusion of slavery in the Territories, but placed reckoning. It may be true that "fortune and the 
the South upon the principle of expediency, and ; South part here— even here do they a'lake bands." 



emigrant from every portion of the world — the 
convicts, the paupers, the loafers, and thi 
of all Europe — may come and stand U| 
lands red with the blood of our i I 

and turn them and their 

may say, It i nd indeed, and a 

your blood, but there is a ■ 

. who have no kii d 
sympathy with you. Our own child 
out, and the slran^tr is ailmittal. Sir, I hnil the 

nd fer- 
tile prairies, and our boundless and unc- 






s 



We may be regarded as the receding States. We 
must bear it as we may, but wc will, with digni- 
fied remonstrance, make continual claim of our 
rights. 



APPENDIX. 

Note A. — The proposition that Congress has un- 
limited power over the Territories has been broadly 
.asserted by the gentleman from Indiana, [Mr. 
Pettit,] who, in reply to a question propounded to 
him by myself, whilst discussing this subject, de- 
clared that Congress had a right, in the Territories, 
to establish a hereditary monarchy, an established 
religion, titles of nobility, and even to sell the in- 
habitants into slavery; and that there was no limit 
but the will of the National Legislature in the prem- 
ises. The most obvious and ample refutation of 
such a doctrine is to be found in its monstrous re- 
sults. 

NoteB. — In the case of Loughborough vs. Blake, 
5 Wheat., 317, Chief Justice Marshall decides that 
the words directing "taxes, imposts, and excises to 
be uniform throughout theUnited Slates, "includes, 
in the terms United States, (as descriptive,) all the 
Slates and Territories of the United States; and 
expressly rules, that the power under the Consti- 
tution to levy taxes, gives Congress the right to 
levy taxes in the Territories — placing the territory 
belonging to the United States de facto under its 
laws, and of course under the Constitution. This' 



case clearly sustains my argument, and enforces 
my conclusion. If the Territories are out of the 
United States, and not protected or governed by our 
fundamental law, then the inhabitants are aliens, 
and not citizens; a question never yet gravely 
raised. The case in 6 Cranch, 264, sustains the 
same principles. The revising power of Congress, 
under the organic law to Territories, of territorial 
legislation, springs from the structure of that law 
accepted by the people of the Territory as a condi 
tion of their existence under that regulation, and 
does not grow out of any inherent power in Con- 
gress. 

Note C. — The case of Missouri affords a stri- 
king illustration: Missouri adopted her constitution 
in 1820, and continued a sovereign State, governed 
by her own laws, and was admitted into the Union 
by proclamation in 1821, after complying with an 
offer, made by resolution, on the part of the Gov- 
ernment of the United States, and accepted by the 
Legislature of Missouri in her sovereign capacity. 
(See Statutes at large, 1820, 1821, pages 545, 645.) 

Note D. — Vattel expressly declares, that all the 
laws and institutions of a conquered country which 
conflict with the fundamental law of the conquering 
country, must cease to be operative. He instances 
a case in which the towns of a conquered country 
had, previously to the conquest, sent representa- 
tives to a legislature. After their conquest by a 
Government which did not admit of representation, 
he says they must never again think of it. 



14® 



b? 












